The Adventures of Legoman
The Adventures of Legoman is an animated film that follows the exploits of masked crime fighter Legoman as he stops criminal Brickzo the Clown from destroying the LEGO City Town Hall. The film is based on a series of short stories by Andrew Bermudez. Film Details * Release Date: April 24, 2009 * Running Time: 16 min. * MPAA Rating: G * Director: Andrew Bermudez * Producer: Andrew Bermudez * Writer: Andrew Bermudez Plot Summary The film opens at the Legotown Museum, where museum patrons gather for the unveiling of the gold of Wu-Wa-Pu. However, outside, Brickzo the Clown and his three henchmen attack a security guard and break into the museum. The patrons try to stop the crooks, but Brickzo uses his clown tricks to incapacitate the crowd. Brickzo and his men get away with the loot. The next day at the police station, Captain Bill interrogates some of the guests, with no success. His partner, Officer Max, suggests that they call Legoman. They do so and Legoman heads off towards the museum. Meanwhile, at the abandoned rubber chicken factory, Brickzo and his men examine the gold. Brickzo then tells his men what he plans to do. First, he's going to melt the gold and use the old equipment in the factory to make a golden rubber chicken. Sticking a set of exploding trick flowers in its mouth, Brickzo plans to give the rubber chicken to Mayor Prickman as a gift, destroying City Hall. They all evilly laugh. At the museum, Legoman arrives and meets up with the two police officers. Officer Max discovers a tongue-twisting trick tulip, leading Legoman to conclude that Brickzo was behind the robbery. Riding on a hunch that Brickzo is hiding out at the rubber chicken factory, he leaves the museum. At the factory, Legoman barges in to stop Brickzo, which results in a fist-fight with his henchmen. They overwhelm him and Lobo hits Legoman with a pipe. Legoman is tied to a giant exploding rubber chicken while Brickzo and his henchmen leave the factory. Legoman works to get out, using his instant rope untie spray to free himself. He reads a note left by Brickzo and races off after the crooks just as the factory explodes. Legoman alerts the police. The police pursue Brickzo in a street chase throughout the city, with Legoman joining in. Trying to stop them, Lobo fires away with their rubber chicken gun. Other tricks, such as sticky cotton candy, are used to incapacitate the officers. However, Legoman uses a deflector shield to send a rubber chicken back at the clown car, causing it to crash. Captain Bill races up and arrests Brickzo and his men. Production History Creating films based on Legoman is a concept almost as old as the stories themselves, with the earliest films starring the masked crime fighter dating from 2003. These films are now lost. When the Fifth Anniversary Celebration was being conceptualized in 2008, it was certain that at least one of the films to be released for it would be an animated film to ride on the success of Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo. As it was certain that the company didn't want to be stuck making Johnny Thunder films, they decided to go with something lighter and more family-oriented. Andrew Bermudez's Legoman stories proved to be the perfect source material. The film was officially announced at the end of Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo on October 24, 2008, with production officially starting in January. After a short production period, the film was completed efficiently and well ahead of its projected April 24, 2009 release. However, because some voice actors had to reschedule, the film's release was delayed by 24 hours. In 2017, as part of Digital Decade, it was officially announced that this film would be re-released in an all-new cut sometime in 2019 for the film's tenth anniversary. This re-edit would see all of the dialogue re-recorded and most of the characters re-cast, as well as update the visuals and clean up any rendering errors. Audience Reception While the film has attracted a niche following, the film was overall not well received, having one of the largest viewership drop-offs of any Mustache Maniacs Film Co. movie. Bricksinmotion.com reviewer Aaron Bulger even noted that "its dialogue just isn't funny enough to provoke laughter." Most stated that the voice acting was bad, from Elizabeth Scarheart's note, "The first girl that was shown being interrogated really needed to work on her line. She sounded like she was just reading them," to even the leads' acting. Because of this bad reception, two in-development films, Alpha Team: The Movie and Ghost Pictures, were cancelled and the possibility of another Legoman film was placed on the back burner for several years. Eventually, the character was rebooted to much acclaim in the 2013 film A Friend of the Police. Characters * Narrator (Andrew Bermudez) * Bum (Al Bermudez) * Pogo (Nathan Stabe) * Guard (Daniel Bermudez) * Brickzo the Clown (Wes Rudnick) * Guest 1 (Eunice Rudnick) * Captain Bill Stewart (Antonio Pagan) * Guest 2 (Michelle Carter) * Officer Max Denver (John Stabe) * Guest 3 (Daniel Bermudez) * Legoman (Luke Stabe) * Hobo (Daniel Bermudez) * Lobo (Garrett Schelske) * Doctor (Daniel Bermudez) * Officer 1 (Aaron Carter) * Officer 2 (David Carter) * Stool Pigeon (cut from film) Locations * LEGO City * LEGO City Museum of Natural History * Police Station * Legocave * Abandoned Rubber Chicken Factory Credits * Andrew Bermudez - Director; Writer; Animator; Voice Actor; Editor; Sound Mixer * Daniel Bermudez - Assistant Director; Writer; Voice Actor * Teresa Bermudez - Assistant Writer; Adviser * Al Bermudez - Voice Actor * Antonio Pagan - Voice Actor * Eunice Rudnick - Voice Actor * Wes Rudnick - Voice Actor * Garrett Schelske - Voice Actor * Luke Stabe - Voice Actor * John Stabe - Voice Actor * Nathan Stabe - Voice Actor * Michelle Carter - Voice Actor * Aaron Carter - Voice Actor * David Carter - Voice Actor Tropes The Adventures of Legoman contains examples of the following tropes. * Abandoned Warehouse: The abandoned rubber chicken factory where Brickzo and his men make their plans fits this trope perfectly. * Abnormal Ammo: Among Brickzo's arsenal are a clown gun that shoots bubbles and a machine gun that shoots rubber chickens. * Added Alliterative Appeal: Almost all of the film's dialogue is written in this manner. * The Cape: The character of Legoman. * Chekhov's Exhibit: The Gold of Wu-Wa-Pu is stolen in the film's opening. * The Commissioner Gordon: The character of Captain Bill. * Continuity Nod: Near the beginning of the film, the Golden Dragon is clearly visible inside the LEGO City Museum. This obviously references Johnny Thunder and the Secret of Marco Polo, where the Golden Dragon was loaned to the museum before finding a permanent home in China later on. * Dramatic Slip: A police motorcycle, upon hitting a rubber chicken, skids and causes the driver to slide on the road. * Faux Horrific: Even though Brickzo and his men takes down the museum patrons with silly string, bubbles, and a ticklish feather, the narrator treats these as legitimate threats. * George Lucas Altered Version: This film underwent some cosmetic and auditory changes for its 2019 re-release. The changes made to the film are: ** The logo was updated to match the current branding. ** The opening titles were scrapped and replaced with simply the film's title. ** The police station establishing shot was scrapped and remade with one matching the LEGO City Police Station's canon appearance. The title was also redesigned. ** The audio was cleaned and enhanced. ** All of the dialogue was either re-modulated or re-recorded. ** Background sounds were added. ** New sound effects were added throughout. ** The entire film was filtered with a slight green tint. ** The end credits were scrapped and re-created. * Hot Pursuit: The film ends with a massive police chase against Brickzo's clown car. * Lampshade Hanging: When Legoman figures out where Brickzo and his henchmen are hiding, Captain Bill and Officer Max are left wondering how he figured that out so quickly. * Mooks: Brickzo the Clown has three. * Narrator: This film has an external, omniscient version of this trope. * Non-Powered Costumed Hero: Legoman is this. * Outside Ride: Officer Max, Pogo, and Hobo all do this during the final chase. * Stripped to the Bone: What happens to the bum that Pogo blows up. * Superheroes Wear Capes: Legoman's costume features one. * Superheroes Wear Tights: Legoman's costume is mostly comprised of this. * Terrible Interviewees Montage: When the police interview witnesses to Brickzo's crime, the first smacks Captain Bill with her briefcase, and the second (implied to be a thief himself) says random things because he can't remember what happened. * Unconventional Vehicle Chase: During the finale, Brickzo the Clown and his henchmen escape from the police in a souped-up clown car. * Utility Belt: Legoman wears one. * Villainous Harlequin: Brickzo the Clown is naturally this, but his henchmen also dress in tacky, motley clothing. Hidden Images * Stagehand Visible: '''Standing behind the Golden Dragon in the main hall of the museum is a production assistant. * '''Special Prop: During the final chase, the vehicles pass by a movie theater. A banner at the theater advertises the classic brickfilm, The Citizen of the Year. Trivia * This film is not based on any particular Legoman story. Instead, it tells an all-new story with elements from the other stories woven in. * In the original version, the opening was going to be a re-telling of a non-Legoman story, Cows Get Revenge. In that story, criminals dressed as ghost cows board a train and rob it, claiming to be the angry spirits of cows that the train hit and killed. This opening was cut out when it received disapproval. Gallery Image97.jpg Image447.jpg Image28.jpg Image0.jpg Image399.jpg Image44.jpg Image405.jpg Image46.jpg Image68.jpg Image392.jpg The Adventures of Legoman Poster Concept.jpg|Concept art by Andrew Bermudez External Links * Official Web Page * Trailer on YouTube * Film on YouTube * Film on Bricks In Motion * Production Gallery on YouTube Category:Movies Category:Animation Category:2009